Airplane



May s, 1923.

D. R. MGCULLOUGH AIRPLAN E Filed Jan. 19, 1922 s sheets-sheet 1 My s, 1923.

D. R. MCCUL-LOUGH AIRPLANE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 19 1922 KWWN May 8, 1923. 1,454,479y D. R. MOCULLQUGH AIRPLANE vmm1 Jan. 19, 1922 a sheets-sheet s Patented May e, i923?.

DAVID RUSH MOCUIJLOUGH, 0F OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

AIRPLANE.

Application flied January 19, 1922. Serial No. 530,415. i

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID RUSH MoCUL- LoUGH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Oakland, county of Alameda, and State of California, have .invented a new and useful Airplane, of which the following'isV a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in airplanes and its particular object is to provide -an airplane vthat has a maximum amount of lifting power as comlared with the space occupied by the same.

his object is obtained by increasing the lifting surface in a manner hereinafter to be described. It is proposed to provide an airplane that will be capable of steep ascent and soaring Hight due to the fact that an enormous amount of lifting surface may be provided. It is further proposed to provide means whereby the planes may be decreased in size or even gradually eliminated,

due to the fact that sufficient lifting surface is provided in the body of the airplane to make flight possible. A furthenobject of the invention is to provide stabilizing means for an airplane of the' character described by utilizing the same principle, that is, by providing sides for the body of the airplane which may be controlled so as to offer more or less surface to side pressure. By the use of this principle it will be possible to compensate for extreme pressure from one side,

such as might be caused by a gale striking" the airplane sideways, by offering a larger surface on the opposing side so that while there is less pressure on 'the latter side the effectiveness of the same will be raised by the increased surface. A further object of the invention is to provide means that may be carried by .the airplane for creating an artificial partial vacuum above the same whereby a lifting power will be exerted and an immediate steep ascent facilitated. A further object of the invention is to provide planes that present a smooth forward edge while the rear edge is toothed, and thereby increased in length whereby an effect is obtained somewhat similar to that of the wing of a bird in fli ht.

With these o jects in mind I have illustrated the preferred form of my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a triplane built so as to embody the principal features of my invention; Figure 2 a vertical cross section through one of the planes ,tion of my body. My plane (3) 8 a top plan view of the same airplane a portion being broken away to disclose 1nterior parts; Figure 4 a vertical cross section throurli the plane along line 4--4 of Figure 3; Figure 5a diagrammatic view 0f a wing showing the action of the air on the same; Figure 6 an enlarged detail plan view showing the tail end of my device, the Vclover being removed, and Figure 7 a vertical cross section along line 7--7 of Figure 3.

It has been my object in presenting the present drawings to clearly illustrate the principle involved in my invention and no attempt has been made to show the com plete airplane equipped with engine, propeller, drivers seat and means for controlling the airplane. It will be ugi'derstood, of course, that once the principle is established it will -be a matter of mechanical construe` tion only to add the necessary features well known in the present state of the art. I wish also to call attention to the fact that I disclose in the drawing one preferred form of my invention, but thaty I realize that the principle involved may be successfully carried out in various forms and possibly in a more effective mannerthan that shown in the drawings. I wish it understood, however, that I wish to be protected on the principle invlved rather than on l the details shown in the drawings.

My airplane (l) is shown as comprising/K the body (2) and the-planes (3). Ihave selected a triplane to illustrate :ny-device, but wish it understood that a monoplane'or a biplane might use my invention with the same degree of satisfaction, and that in fact it may be found possible to do away with wings altogether due to the construcre resents a smooth forward or leading edge (4S, while the rear portion of the same is made up of a plurality of sheets (6) of which only three are shown in Figure 1. In reality it will probably be found avisable to provide a large plurality of these sheets which are' placed in parallel relation in such a manner that the rear end of each upper sheet slightly overlaps the rear end of each adjoining lower sheet.

vof the airplane shown in' Figure 1h; Figure The sheets are preferably made of very l section in veo ln a similar manner `ative to the irst sheet so that the same is toothed as shown at (7) so as to present a plurality of V-shaped projections. the second sheet is staggered relation relpoints of of the second sheet toothed preferably in the l/-shaped projections are substantially in line with the bases of the projections of the rst sheet. The third sheet is formed similarly relative to the second sheet so that its projections would be substantially parallel to the ,projections of the second sheet. ln this manner the il-shaped open spaces between the V-shaped projections of each. succeeding sheet lie underneath a solid portion of each upper sheet and, to allow air attacking each succeeding sheet and slipping od its rearward projections to pass through the upper sheet, the latter` is provided with a corresponding plurality of substantially ll-shaped aps formed by cutting `V-shaped holes into the sheet and deflecting the l-shaped aps (8) formed thereby substantially into the line of draught.

ln this manner the rear portion of the plane is formed so as to allow the air attacked by the plane to work its way through the several. layers or sheets exerting lifting force on each one of them. IThe il-shaped are preferably formed so as to present a slight upward bend and rather sharp cutting edges allowing air to slip off the same without causing f eddy currents. Since a large part of the air attacked by the plane has to pass through thevarious sheets and successively engages the same, the lifting e'ect of the air is multiplied substantially in proportion to lthe increased surface offered by the large number of sheets, it being understood that a corresponding suction created above each sheet projections the plane in a similar manner as in the present day machine. j

'llhe principle disclosed. in the wing construction may be extended. to the construction of the body so that a lifting effect may be obtained on the body itself and the wings may be gradually decreased in size and poseliminated altogether.

igure l and is shown to consist of a large plurality of horizontal sheets (11) laced on top of each other, each of them being provided with the V-shaped flaps previously referred to in the wing construction. The theory of this body construction is eX- actly the same as that previously described, .it being proposed to force the air to successively engage the different sheets and to thereby exercise a lifting effect on the body substantially in proportion to the large lifting surface offered by the large number o sheets. l combine with these. horizontal sheets a plurality of marginal vertical 'limited to its normal degree.

construction is illustrated in` fto neaaere will be seen at will res )Vhen the shutter is opened the air is free to pass and to successively engage the ditferent sheets so as to exert pressure with increased effectiveness. 'llhis feature is intended to be used for stabilizing the machine. Assuming for instance that a heavy gale attacks the airplane from the lettv hand side, the pilot would close the shutter on that side, leaving the right hand side shutter open. vrllhis would allow the air to attack the right hand side with the augmented force provided by the increased vsurtace while on the left hand side, due to the closing of the shutter, the edective pressure o the gale on the side I'llhe tail end of the airplane is preferably streamlined as is commonly done in modern airplane practice.

An additional feature is presented in my system for creating an artificial vacuum above the airplane. lt is well understood in the resent art that as illustrated in Figure 5 a ifting effect on the wings (16) ot the air lane is obtained not so much by the actua positive pressure exerted on the under side of the wing as by the negative pressure or suction exerted on the upper?, surface oit the wing. rl`his is illustrated diagrammatically by the dottedlines (17) and (18) in A will add in increasing the eectiveness of Figure 5, the area controlled by the datt-.ed

ronce `that if it is possible to create an artidcial vacuum or negative pressure above the wing or other lifting surface of the airplane,

important lifting results could be obtained, which means that provided a vacuum can be created above thewings or lifting surface of the airplane while the same is standing still, a direct or nearly direct ascent of the same may be obtained.

For this purpose l introduce a number ot pipes (21) connected with any suitable source of air pressure and leading around the outlines o the wings or other lifting surfaces, and provided with suitable small openings (22) pointing in an upward direction. When air under pressure is allowed pass through these pipes and to force its way through the small openings (22), it will withdraw air from the surrounding area,

be controlled by` shuttersl f to of the airplane will be lll() megeve that is, from above the airplane wing, so as to create a partial vacuum throughout the said area. This partial vacuum will tend to suck the airplane upward'and will materially assist any other suitable motive power that may be-used in effecting a steep ascent.l It will be readily understood that the effectiveness of this latter feature will be considerably increased by using it in combination with my special wing or body construction, whereby the suction is allowed to affect an increased surface.

I wish to also call attention to the fact that my particular wing and body construction will assist considerably in lmaking possible a soaring flight, the same embodying all the principal features of the wings of'a bird and using air pressure with an extreme degree of efectiveness.

I claim: 1. In an airplane, a lifting surface comprisin a plurality of thin sheets of rigid the draught-so as to allow of the passage of air from one sheet to the other. v

3. In an airplane, a body comprisingv a plurality of thin sheets of rigid material disposed in spaced relationto each other,`eacl1 sheet being provided with a plurality ofl aps deflected from each sheet substantially in the line of draught for allowing the air to successively engage the different sheets.

4. In an airplane, a body including a plurality of vertical sheets disposed in spaced relation along the sides of the body, each sheet being provided with a plurality of -aps deflected from the same so as to allow the air to successively engage the diilerent sheets, and means associated with each side for controllin the passage of air through the sheets on either side so as to compensate for differences in air pressure on the two sides of the airplane.

5. In an airplane, a body comprising a. plurality of central horizontal sheets and marginal vertical sheets disposed in spaced relation to each other, each sheet being provided with a plurality of flaps deflected from the same so as to allow the air to successively engage the'sheets, and means associated with the marginal sheets for controlling the passage of air through the same so as to compensate for differences in air pres-- sure on the two sides of the airplane.

6. In an airplane, a lifting surface comprising a plurality of thin sheets of rigid materialv disposed in spaced relation to each other, means for allowing the air to successively engage the different sheets, and means for creating a partial vacuum above the lifting surface vwhereby a lifting effect is obi tained. t

7. In an airplane, a liftino surface comprising a plurality of thin 'sheets of rigid material disposed in spaced relation to each other, means for allowing the air to successively engage the different sheets, and means for creating a partial vacuum above the lifting surface whereby a lifting effect is obtained, said last named means comprising means for releasing air-under pressure in an upward direction.

VDAVID RUSH MoCULLOUGI-I. 

